Tired
by AeroQC
Summary: Returning from the comfort and safety of Judy's home in Bunnyburrow, Nick can't help but feel trapped in his situation. Collar AU. WildeHopps.
1. Return

**AN: This story was originally drafted as a webcomic by CharlotteRay on DeviantArt. The cover art and plot for this story are hers and are used with her permission. Please enjoy the rest.  
**

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 **Part 1 - Return**

It felt awkward during the trip back to the city. Sure, it was just as silent as the trip out to the burrows, but Nick had been unconscious at the time. Now that the fox was fully aware, Judy had expected at least a little conversation. But he just stared out the passenger window as she drove; a blank expression on his face.  
Maybe he still had some healing to do, the bunny concluded, recalling how beat up Nick had been when she brought him. His right eye still hadn't fully recovered; a reddish hue having taken over the white from a burst vessel. Maybe there was something else as well. They rode back to Zootopia in general silence.

Night had fallen by the time they had returned to the precinct. Parking the patroller in the lot, Judy offered to accompany Nick home. The fox left the vehicle without a word. She followed him a ways away from the precinct in silence, worry starting to grip at her thoughts.  
"Nick?" The bunny finally called out.  
He stopped, but didn't look back.  
"Nick? Are you okay?" She found the courage to ask.  
The fox's ears lay flat as he registered the question.  
"No, Carrots," he quietly answered. "I'm not okay..."  
Judy felt distraught by his response.  
"What's the matter? Come on, you can tell me," she pressed.  
Nick gave out a sigh of defeat. He looked up towards the city skyline as he gathered his thoughts together.  
"I'm just... Tired."  
The bunny didn't quite grasp the problem.  
"Tired?" She repeated. "Tired of what?"  
"EVERYTHING!" Nick exploded as he turned to face her. "I'm tired of everything."  
Judy wasn't quite sure how to respond.  
"I'm tired of the collars," he continued. "I'm tired of people treating me like SHIT because I'm a fox-NGHN!"  
Nick's collar had registered his tension and cut his raving short with a shock. The fox concluded that he wouldn't be able to vent out like this and gave out another sigh.  
"I need to be alone," he said as he walked off. "See you later, Carrots."  
"Nick! Nick wait!"  
Judy's words fell on deaf ears as he kept on walking. The bunny resigned to leave him be.  
"Yeah... See you later..."

Judy couldn't help but think of Nick on her way home. Was he really going to be okay? She hoped that he wouldn't hurt himself more than he already was. Similar dark thoughts were floating through her mind as she reached the familiar comfort of her apartment. The bunny stripped off her uniform and flopped onto her bed, not to sleep, but to rest herself as she tried to shoo away the horrible thoughts. Judy heaved a sigh as she lay there, thinking.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of her phone, sitting on her nightstand. She eyed the device for a moment more before pawing it; it was a call from an unknown number.  
"Hello?" Judy cautiously answered.  
"Carrots!" A familiar voice echoed back.  
"Nick?! How'd you get my number?"  
"That's not important!" The fox told her. "Can you please open your door?"  
The bunny complied with the odd request and opened up her apartment, only to have the implied fox fall onto the carpet.  
"Thanks, Carrots..."  
"Are you alright?" She asked in concern from behind the door.  
Nick merely chuckled.  
"Aren't you going to ask how I found your apartment?" He countered.  
Judy smirked as she helped him off the floor.  
"I decided not to question it."


	2. Confession

**Part 2 - Confession**

Nick sat on Judy's bed, taking in the room around him. It wasn't small, but it was certainly smaller than his own place; the bunny was living in a single room apartment, for one. Said bunny was just across the room, now dressed in a pink flannel nightie. Judy had offered him some coffee once he was steady on the bed, and the fox had felt it rude to deny the drink. Besides, free coffee is free coffee.

The silence only got more awkward as time ticked by while Judy looked at the coffee dripping into the pot. Only when the hot liquid was done its brewing did she resolve to speak again:  
"So Nick! What ARE you doing here?" She asked as she poured his cup. "Last time I checked, you wanted to be alone."  
The bunny closed the distance between them and put the coffee in his paws, the fox taking it in relative silence. He swirled the dark liquid around as he thought of what to say, hoping that something just outside the window might help in some way as well. When nothing happened, Nick conceded to just letting himself come up with what to say.  
"Uh… Let's just say…" The fox bumbled as he tried fishing for an explanation.  
But as cunning and sly as he was, he just couldn't come up with any more excuses. The only thing left was the truth. Nick gave out a weak sigh as he set the cup down on the floor, before looking at the bunny to tell her.  
"Judy… Every time I get my collar taken off, I feel free. I feel happy," he shared. "That feeling of restraint and to always suppress my emotions is gone. When you had to put my collar back on when we returned from Bunnyburrow…"  
Nick instinctively looked away, feeling ashamed for what he was about to say.  
"…All those feelings of anger and self-hate came back," he meekly said.  
Judy couldn't help but feel sorry for what she had done. She wanted to apologize, but he kept going before she could say a word.  
"I've gotten so used to not wearing it that, the moment I had it back on…"  
He looked back to the bunny, sorrow in his eyes.  
"I couldn't handle it."  
And just as fast, the sorrow disappeared as he looked at her.  
"But then I realized that when I'm around you… I feel like I don't have it on."  
The fox reached out and clasped one of her paws, the bunny's cheeks flushing red under her fur. She was starting to understand, and was glad that he forgave her. She returned the kind gesture and clutched his paw as well.  
"Nick… That's…"  
She wanted to say 'sweet', but at this point, words would've meant nothing. Judy gave him a tender smile before catching him off-guard with an equally tender kiss.

Nick's surprise was quickly subdued by the presence of the bunny's velvety lips on his. He felt safe; he felt warm; he felt love. Throwing caution to the wind, he deepened his kiss with Judy; caressing her soft grey fur as she hung on his neck. He ignored his collar blipping yellow as his heart rate went up, the fox wanted to cherish this moment with her. His blood rushed more and more the longer they stayed entangled in their silent embrace.

The collar went red. A shock flowed through. Nick clenched as he felt the pain.  
Judy felt it too, and she recoiled. She was surprised by the events and felt towards her lip. Nick saw the blood on her chin and felt his heart sink as she looked away with tears building in her eyes.  
"Ow! What the-"  
Nothing else escaped her lips as Nick's cry filled the apartment:  
"JUDYYYY!"  
The bunny slowly turned back to face the fox, tears flowing freely as she saw with horror what was happening.  
"Oh god. NICK!"  
Heartbroken by his actions, fear filling his thoughts, and anger gripping at his heart, Nick was stuck in an endless loop of pain as his collar shocked him. Over and over…


	3. Release

**Part 3 – Release**

Jittering... Twitching... Convulsing…  
Judy stared in horror as Nick's collar shocked him repeatedly on her bed.  
"Aah! Judy! Please! Please!" Nick cried between shocks, tears of pain and guilt streaming down his face.  
The bunny felt conflicted for a moment; she had the key to end his suffering in her desk, but she was unsure whether she should use it. Judy eyed the device at the bottom of the drawer, and then looked back to the fox; he was spasming even more violently now.  
She pawed the device and crept towards her friend.  
"It's going to be okay…" She said, unsure whether the words were for her comfort or Nick's.  
She armed the little gadget, its light glowing yellow.  
"I promise."  
Judy raised the device to the collar. The lights glowed green. The collar unlocked. A swift motion sent the collar skittering into a corner, where its light died.  
Nick lay in Judy's bed, the bunny hovering over him. Sweat matted his fur, his breath still shallow from the incessant shocks. As he looked up at her teary eyes, he finally garnered enough air to speak:  
"T-thank you."

The two were lying in her bed, staring into each other's eyes. Nick had calmed down; Judy's tears had dried; now it was just the two of them. The fox's tail had curled to caress her thigh, the bunny merely holding onto his paw. They stared in silence for a while like this. It was Judy who spoke first:  
"Nick…"  
"Yeah…"  
"I'm tired…"  
The fox stroked her velvety soft cheek as he processed this.  
"Tired of what?" He asked, knowing full well the answer.  
"Just… Everything."  
Nick smiled. She understood him now. The brave, dumb bunny that he loved, finally understood.  
He leaned in for a kiss. She returned the gesture. Nothing interrupted their session.  
'Yeah…' Nick thought. 'Me too.'  
The two lovers dozed off in each other's embrace.

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 **AN: I would like to thank CharlotteRay, once again, for allowing me to write up this transcription of her comic. She is currently working on a comic version of 'Infection', and the results are amazing. The cover page is out and so is the first page of the story. I would check them both out if you haven't already.**


End file.
